1. Mineral element feed standard
The demand of various animals for mineral elements at different growth stages is the feeding standard of mineral elements. At present, there are national standards and American NRC (National Research Council) standards. NRC standard data is comprehensive and frequently updated, and it is a widely used mineral element feeding standard at present. Therefore, the practical application is mostly based on NRC standard, and then adjusted according to the actual situation and influencing factors, so as to determine the feeding standard of mineral elements used in production. Generally speaking, the content of trace mineral elements in feed raw materials is low, which can be ignored in calculation; But if the content is high, it should be considered. Major elements such as calcium, phosphorus, chlorine and sodium must usually be considered.
2. Choose appropriate mineral additives.
Mineral element feed is generally divided into macro elements and trace elements. Under normal circumstances, only four major elements are used, namely calcium, phosphorus, chlorine and sodium. Stone powder, bone powder, calcium hydrogen phosphate and salt are mainly added separately. Under normal circumstances, only iron, copper, zinc, manganese, iodine, selenium and so on. They are all used as trace elements, and the commercial form is generally a premix of various trace elements, named after the mineral element premix of poultry or livestock. Therefore, when choosing mineral additives, we should choose products with guaranteed quality and good reputation; Pay attention to whether the variety, content and proportion of trace elements conform to the selected feeding standard, whether they conform to the national regulations, and whether harmful elements such as fluorine, lead and mercury exceed the standard, so as to avoid adverse effects after use.
3. Pay attention to the purity of the mineral element additives used.
Mineral element additives are mostly oxides and salts with certain purity, and each compound has a certain element content and a certain bioavailability. Therefore, when applying mineral element additives, we should first convert them into effective utilization rate of mineral elements according to the purity, effective content and utilization rate of the compounds, and then determine the dosage.
4. Pay attention to the interaction of mineral elements
Mineral elements can influence each other, such as phosphorus and magnesium, zinc and iron and copper, which can inhibit each other's absorption. Excessive calcium will limit the absorption and utilization of zinc, manganese and copper. Therefore, attention should be paid to these effects in application, and the proportion of various mineral elements should be as reasonable and balanced as possible in order to improve their absorption and utilization rate as much as possible.
5. Beware of mineral element poisoning
Excessive mineral elements can inhibit the growth of animals, produce poisoning symptoms and even lead to death in severe cases. Therefore, attention should be paid to prevent excessive mineral elements when applying mineral elements, especially elements with low safety range such as selenium. Mineral additives in feed often contain heavy metal elements such as lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury, which have great influence on animal health and may cause heavy metal poisoning. The limit of heavy metals in conventional mineral additives is: lead 30mg/kg, cadmium 10mg/kg, arsenic 10mg/kg and mercury 0. 1mg/kg. Therefore, products with better quality should be selected, and mineral compounds with higher purity and bioavailability should be used as much as possible to reduce the damage and adverse effects of harmful elements in impurities, and good dilution and premixing should be carried out to ensure better mixing uniformity.
6. Application of amino acid chelates of trace elements
Trace element amino acid chelate is a new trace element additive, which has the characteristics of good stability, high biological potency, easy absorption and utilization, no irritation and high safety in use, and can promote growth and improve animal reproductive performance. It is an ideal and safe trace element additive. However, the price is relatively high, and you can choose according to your needs when you have the conditions.
7. Rational utilization of mineral elements to improve production performance.
Under certain conditions, applying some mineral elements in a reasonable large dose can improve the production performance of animals. For example, the application of 125 ~ 250 mg/kg copper in piglet feed can effectively reduce common diseases such as piglet diarrhea, promote growth and improve feed utilization rate, especially when combined with antibiotics. High dose magnesium can effectively prevent sow constipation in pregnant sows.